


ten dollars

by sad_goomy



Series: Kiss Me(me) [3]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Banter, Canon Compliant, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Dates, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Post-Canon, lonashipping, mahinashipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 15:54:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17686499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sad_goomy/pseuds/sad_goomy
Summary: Moon decides she wants a fake boyfriend.Gladion, for some reason, decides to go along with it.





	ten dollars

 

**19\. a clumsy kiss**

 

* * *

 

“I’ll pay you five bucks to be my boyfriend.” 

Gladion chokes on his coffee. Moon smirks as she takes a sip of her own, triumphant that she’s timed the line just right. The blond young man looks at her from across the table, signature unimpressed frown in place. It’s a small mercy the rest of the coffee shop is empty and no one else witnessed the break in his apathetic demeanor. 

“I’m serious,” she tells him, though the lilt in her voice says otherwise. She taps her foot and stares him down with storm cloud eyes, muttering, “You know, it’d be mutually beneficial.” 

He raises a brow. “I get five dollars, what do you get out of it?” 

“Bigger picture,” she tells him, taking a sip of her latte. He’d proclaimed it was more milk than coffee when she ordered it, and she had graciously pretended not to notice his grimace when he tasted his black coffee; she’d even stifled her laugh when he did his best to hide the handful of sugar packets and creamer he’d poured into it. 

He leans back into his chair and crosses his arms. His face remains unreadable, but she’s spent far too much time around him with her (usually) bad ideas to know when he’s dismissed something and when he’s seriously considering it.  

“Start painting.” 

Her hands set down her mug to better gesture while she speaks, and it still amuses him that for someone so reserved, Moon punctuates nearly every syllable with her hands. “I’m getting too many annoying questions about my love life since I’m Champion, and as the Aether Foundation president, you obviously need the occasional date to fundraisers and company functions. Neither of us wants a relationship. So, you, me, five dollars, and we pretend we’re dating.” 

Gladion blinks, feeling something sharp in his stomach. In light of an answer that he doesn’t have, he stalls by muttering, “I see you’ve thought about this.” 

“Not extensively." 

“Enough to put a price on our fake relationship.” 

“It’s negotiable.” 

“Then I want twenty.” 

“Ten and you can have joint custody of the fake child we may need to adopt.” 

They stare each other down for another moment before they crack into rare grins that no one else ever sees. Gladion wonders if Lillie really is right about him smiling more ever since the young woman in front of him stepped into his life. He sighs, “This is ridiculous, you know.” 

“You always tell me I’m ridiculous, might as well live up to the title,” she retorts, watching him sip his coffee. From the way his brow furrows, it’s still too bitter, and with a huff she pushes forward her own latte. He makes a move to protest, but her pointed glare silences him and he wordlessly accepts the mug, taking a long, appreciative drink. “I know it’s a dumb plan, but I’m desperate.” 

He takes another sip, reconsiders the decisions he's made in life that have led to this point, and then swallows. “Fine.” 

With a smirk, she reaches into her bag and passes him a ten-dollar bill, which he takes with a frown. "Just don't fall in love with me," she chuckles, skirting dangerously close to a territory she's been avoiding for years. "Or else I want my ten dollars back." 

And to that he shrugs, and they pretend this will go according to plan. 

 

* * *

 

“You’re late.” 

“I didn’t want to come.” 

She smirks, crossing her arms over the gingham pattern of her dress. “That’s no way to treat your fake girlfriend,” Moon hums, leaning against her doorframe. She looks a little nicer than usual, and Gladion is slightly relieved that they have the same definition of casual date attire. Interrupting his thoughts, she tells him, “So I’ve decided we’re going to the Battle Royal Dome.” 

He raises a brow. “You don’t like watching Battle Royal matches.” 

“I only find them entertaining if I’m actually participating,” she agrees with a shrug before going to grab her bag off the end table in her front hallway. 

Gladion takes a step inside, brows furrowing further in confusion. “Then why are we going?” 

As she shuffles through the contents of her bag, making sure she has everything she needs, she waves his interrogation off. “Because  _you_  like it.” When she’s arranged everything to her liking in her purse, she looks up at him and raises a brow at his stunned expression. “What?” 

He shakes his head, doing his best to clear it of messy thoughts that point towards this becoming far less fake than either of them would like. “We should get going if we don’t want to miss the first round.” 

She pulls out her ride pager as she follows him outside before shoving the device into his hands. “Call Charizard,” she mutters, mostly thinking out loud before she turns to lock her front door. He’s about to do just that when his eyes skim her hemline, forcing him to raise a brow. 

“You realize you’re in a tight dress, right?” 

“Considering I put it on my body, yes.” 

"So how do you plan on doing this without flashing the entire world?" She opens her mouth, confident that an answer will come out. When it doesn't, she frowns, eyes looking to the ground in defeat. He bites back laughter, sighing good-naturedly as he hands back the ride pager. "And I'm assuming you aren't going to change?" 

"You know me so well." 

"Ferry?" he suggests, leading the way down her porch and holding out an arm to her (as a joke, he figures). 

She follows and accepts, wrapping a hand around his arm (as a joke, she reasons). "Ferry." 

And they walk to the nearby marina, arm-in-arm the entire time (as a joke, they lie). 

 

* * *

 

The ferry ride is uneventful, though Moon spends the majority of it trying to come up with the most vomit-inducing pet names she can think of for him. 

"Thoughts on Baby Bewear?" she hums as they step off the ferry and onto the marina, the two following the majority of the crowd down the street and towards Royal Avenue. 

Gladion gives her a deadpan glare. "I'd rather you run me over with Taurus than ever say that out loud again." The second she laughs, though, his face transforms into a smile. As they begin the walk to the Battle Royal Dome, he becomes aware that a few people are glancing at them, possibly recognizing the head of the Aether Foundation and the Alolan Champion. A thought strikes him as he sees a couple pass by, holding hands and walking incredibly close. 

The same thought occurs to Moon, and they look at each other with hesitant glances. She chews the side of her cheek, feeling something flutter to life in her chest as she finds it hard to focus on Gladion's eyes. "We should probably amp up the fake romance." 

He nods, his throat going dry and making it far too difficult to ask, "Should we hold hands?" 

"Probably." 

"Do you want to?" 

"Do  _you_?" 

"I mean do you -" 

" _Just hold my hand,_ _Gladion_ _._ "  

Their fingers fumble and they can't quite look each other in the eyes, but they hold hands nonetheless. When Moon risks a glance, she locks eyes with Gladion and the two can't help the nervous laugh that escapes their lips as they walk. 

"This is stupid." 

"The absolute dumbest." 

(When he gives her hand a cautious squeeze, though, she tightens her grip and doesn't break the hold until after they've entered the Battle Royal Dome.) 

 

* * *

 

She can't stop talking about the matches the entire way back. 

Gladion can't stop smiling as he listens. 

Their "date" went well, with plenty of people noticing them and a few cameras taking sly photos. They sat next to each other and laughed, cheered, and at some point, they both forgot that it was a charade. Gladion was about to remind her, right when the last Battle Royal match ended with deafening applause, but then she turned to him with a spark in her eyes and a giant smile before enveloping him in a hug, too excited about her favorite competitor winning to realize how accidentally romantic she might seem. 

Not that Gladion particularly minded. 

Moon's still analyzing battle tactics when they reach her house. "It's just pure genius how she timed that Solar Beam – I have to use that in my own battles!" She climbs up the steps, jolting out of her thoughts when she realizes her own front door is in front of her face. With a triumphant smirk, she turns to Gladion. "Looks like this is my stop." 

"It is." He tries his best not to deflate when he adds, "Which means the end of our fake date." 

She bites her lip, not sure where to go from here (but not wanting him to leave). To hide her hesitation, her need for something she can't name yet, Moon jokes, "You know, you make a great fake boyfriend." 

He hums, looking at her but with his brows furrowed and his eyes clouded over with something close to a realization. 

Moon fidgets under his gaze, her cheeks growing uncomfortably warm with thoughts she's been doing her best to keep at bay. She tries to keep her mouth shut, to keep things to a simply goodbye, but her nerves get the best of her. "Really, not a bad way to spend ten dollars. I mean, we'll probably need to go on a few more dates, so the rate is negotiable, but maybe -" 

She blinks when she feels his lips blindly stumble from the corner of her mouth (in his haste, his aim is off) to the center of her lips. He has a hand on her waist and one hand tentatively goes to cup her face, as she stumbles back from shock but wraps an arm around his neck to keep him close to her. She leans into it, and he melts into her, and all too quickly he pulls away, realizing what he's done with a scarlet blush on his cheeks and ears. 

With a slight smirk, he reaches into his pocket and holds out the ten-dollar bill she gave him the other day. Moon stares at him wide-eyed, confusion all over her face and parted lips. "Why..." But he's stolen all the words out of her mouth, and half the coherent thoughts out of her head, so the sentence trails off as all she can think about is the feeling of his lips against hers, no matter how clumsy or desperate or damnably short. 

Gladion shrugs. 

"You said if I fell in love with you, you wanted your ten dollars back." He watches her catch on and can't help himself but smirk as he leans in ever so slightly. "So keep it." 

And she takes the money, still in a daze, and watches him turn and walk down the porch steps, his words slowly sinking in and leaving a smile in their wake. 

Best ten dollars she never spent. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I would've kept the ten dollars but ok


End file.
